vassal
n.n. a person who is a servant to a powerful leader and must obey them. In the past, a vassal would give their leader money or land in exchange for protection.
n. a person who is bound to another by a formal relationship of loyalty and service. Historically, a vassal would receive land or protection from a lord in exchange for military service or other obligations.
The vassal pledged his loyalty to the king.
In the feudal system, a vassal would swear an oath of fealty to their lord in return for a grant of land.
The historical narrative often portrays the vassal as a subordinate figure, yet modern legal scholars argue that the relationship was a sophisticated contract of mutual obligation and protection.
From Middle English vassal, from Old French vassal, from Medieval Latin vassallus (“manservant, domestic, retainer”), from Latin vassus (“servant”), from Gaulish wassos (“young man, squire”), from Proto-Celtic wastos (“servant”) (compare Old Irish foss and Welsh gwas).